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I wonder how long the roadster will last out there before it turns into a big lump of lithium circling the sun. That's if the main batteries are still in it. It would be an interesting thing to visit when it comes back around. Any guesses when it might be back in our neighborhood?

Last edited by DaCaptain; 2018-Feb-08 at 03:24 PM.

I know that I know nothing, so I question everything. - Socrates/Descartes

I wonder how long the roadster will last out there before it turns into a big lump of lithium circling the sun. That's if the main batteries are still in it. It would be an interesting thing to visit when it comes back around. Any guesses when it might be back in our neighborhood?

I thought I heard someone on TV or on-line saying it would have a close approach to Earth in 2030, but I can't find a reference now and I don't know how close "close" is.

For most of its orbit, the car will be floating between Mars and Jupiter. But it will pass through Earth’s orbit every once in a while and have “very rare close approaches to the Earth and Mars,” explained Alan Fitzsimmons, an astronomer at Queen's University Belfast.

Anybody have the orbital characteristics for the Tesla Roadster/Starman?

I wanted to enter them into my Starry Night program. So I could ride along!

Here is a simulation of the Tesla's orbit using the latest data from JPL Horizons.
If you want to see the orbital elements for Starry Night, with the simulation paused, click menu Objects > Edit Objects Orbital Elementshttp://orbitsimulator.com/gravitySim...9Horizons.html

spaceweather.com (I suspect the story will only be on that page for a day or so)

Using that ephemeris, along with a remote-controlled telescope in Siding Spring, Australia, amateur astronomer Adriano Valvasori photographed the Roadster on Feb. 8th. It is the faint speck circled in red:

At the time, the car was 493,000 km (306,000) away, not far beyond the orbit of the Moon, receding from Earth about 3.7 km/s (8,300 mph). Reflecting sunlight, it shone about as brightly as a 16th magnitude star.